Putting on a Show

You can get away with almost anything long as you look like you know what you're doing.

When kids perform, every mistake or mishap in a recital feels about 1,000 times worse than it actually was.

Let me step back a second...that's not true for all kids.

Some kids make mistakes left and right every performance, take their bow with a huge smile, and happily bound off to the next adventure. Ah, to be that carefree.

If performers can resist the urge to make a face, they can get away with almost any mistake.

But then, why do we want to make a face to begin with?

It's likely our deep-rooted need to show the audience that we know we made a mistake. As in, "I know, I don't know why this happened either, but at least I'm acknowledging it...happy?"

And at the end of a disappointing performance, there is of course the overwhelming urge to run away. Or at least make another face at the audience that says, "Sorry, I know that was rough, but at least we both made it to the end."

But, we don't need to do that. Nor should we.

Our audience doesn't know our work like we do. And our audience doesn't care about our mistakes. In fact, because they don't know our work, they don't know there are mistakes to begin with.

And so, there are two rules to live by in performance. Music and otherwise.

1. There are no mistakes. If you make a mistake, act like it was an artistic decision.

2. No matter how the performance went, it went well. So don't forget to smile and take a bow.

When we put on the show that our audience wants to see, that's when real connection happens. And that's why we play music for people to begin with...right?